It’s time for one of our favorite seasonal specialties! Brush up on the basics of prepping and cooking soft-shell crabs and dive into any of the recipes below. And heck, because the season’s so short we included a few recipes that would benefit from a fried soft-shell crab instead of whatever crab was listed when these guys weren’t in prime season.

A bonus brunch hack for your trouble: plop a poached egg on a fried soft-shell crab. Just don’t let the English muffins see.